Saturday service will remain under approved WHAT plan

Friday

Oct 10, 2008 at 2:05 AMOct 10, 2008 at 9:45 AM

WINTER HAVEN - Winter Haven Area Transit riders will find some of their routes and bus stops changed on Dec. 1, but Saturday service will remain.

The WHAT Transit Authority, composed of Winter Haven city commissioners Yvonne Brooks and Mike Easterling, County Commissioners Jean Reed and Randy Wilkinson and Jan Parham of the Florida Department of Transportation, has unanimously approved a series of route changes known as Option A: Revised.

The action was taken during a Thursday afternoon meeting at Winter Haven City Hall.

The changes were necessary to reduce operating expenses, transit officials said. The WHAT Authority is facing a budget deficit of about $312,000, and that deficit was expected to more than double by the end of fiscal year 2008-09.

During a Sept. 17 meeting, the Transit Authority approved rate increases and discussed two options for route changes.

Option A would realign routes, reduce most Saturday service and eliminate two buses. This option would reduce the routes to six, with eight buses running. The only service on Saturday would be to and from Lakeland. It would cover 90 percent of the existing routes and merge routes with lower ridership.

Option B would cut routes to cities that are served by the buses but contributing funds toward the transit system. This would eliminate three buses and restore service to the 2003 level and serve the parties - Winter Haven, Auburndale and Polk County - that currently fund the system. Saturday service would remain.

Both options were planned to eliminate the WHAT deficit and balance the budget.

After more public workshops, Option A: Revised was created. There currently are nine routes with 10 buses running. This option will reduce the routes to six, with eight buses running, and there will be Saturday service every two hours.

Through the workshops, 102 votes were cast for the options. Two people voted for Option A, 11 voted for Option B and 89 voted for Option A: Revised.

Paul Simmons, the director of Polk County Transit Services, said any route changes and bus stop changes are going to hurt some people, but a choice had to be made.

"The fact of the matter is, people are going to have to make adjustments," Simmons said. "They're going to have to walk a couple more blocks. They may have to make one more transfer than they were used to."

Transit riders who spoke during Thursday's meeting agreed that Option A: Revised would have the least impact on riders. During the public workshops, most people didn't want to see any changes, Simmons said.

Riders were concerned not only about route changes but also with changes in bus stop locations. Many said they purchased their home specifically for the location of a bus stop, and those with mobility or vision impairments said they will have a more difficult time walking to a bus stop.

Winter Haven resident Eva Crowder, who had her guide dog with her, said she doesn't support either of the three options. She said that to get to her new bus stop, she will have to walk two blocks, which wasn't a concern to her. She said there are no safe crosswalks near the area where she lives, which is near Winter Haven High School, and there are no sidewalks leading to the bus stop, which is a city of Winter Haven issue.

Dave Walters, a communications specialist for the county, took a blindfolded walk in the area in September and agreed it's a dangerous crosswalk.

"I don't want to cross it with sight," he said.

Easterling said there are other avenues the Transit Authority can pursue for additional funding, such as talking to the business community for support or levying a 1-cent gasoline tax or a half-cent sales tax.

"There are things to look at before we chop up the route system," Easterling.

The Polk County Commission recently granted the WHAT Authority another $80,000, which will allow the route changes to take effect Dec. 1 instead of Nov. 1, as originally planned.

The staff members of Polk County Transit Services has been meeting with East Polk city managers to discuss funding issues. Representatives from the Lighthouse for the Blind have gone to local city commission meetings to bring up the transit funding issues.

WHAT buses currently serve unincorporated Polk County and the cities of Winter Haven, Auburndale, Lake Wales, Lake Alfred, Eagle Lake, Haines City and Bartow, but only the county, Winter Haven and Auburndale fund the system.

Simmons said he's trying to set up meetings between the county manager and city managers.

"We're not done here," Simmons said. "We're going to be setting up a meeting with all the city managers again with the county manager and we're going to spell this out so everybody's on the same page."

Simmons said if additional funding becomes available, the WHAT Authority can meet again in November to discuss further action.

shelly.godefrin@newschief.com

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